Selection in migration and return migration: Evidence from micro data

Rooth, Dan-Olof; Saarela, Jan

doi:10.1016/j.econlet.2006.08.006

Cited by 93 publications

(69 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Our results therefore highlight the well-known fact that migrants, and particularly return migrants, constitute a highly selected group of the population of the source country (Ramos, 1992;Borjas and Bratsberg, 1996;Rooth and Saarela, 2007). Explicit analyses of selection processes, which have been beyond the scope of this paper, are essential for a more detailed understanding of the labour market situation of return migrants.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Migration rates from Finland, and return migration rates from Sweden, have been found higher among non-employed than among employed persons (Finnäs, 2003;Saarela and Finnäs, 2006). This may partly be due to inadequate skills, as Finnish migrants in general have relatively low educational levels (Finnäs, 2003;Rooth and Saarela, 2007). A central issue here is therefore whether any employment difficulties of return migrants interrelate with structural confounders, such as education.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Employment Rates of Return Migrants: The Finnish Case

Saarela¹,

Finnäs²

2009

Migration and Mobility in Europe

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Abstract. During the second half of the 20th century half a million Finns migrated, mainly to Sweden. A majority of these also returned to Finland. This paper utilises Finnish longitudinal population registers in order to identify the return migrants and analyse their employment rates as compared with non-migrants. We find that both male and female return migrants have odds of employment that are only about half those of non-migrants, also when factors such as age, education, mother tongue and place of residence are accounted for. Even within highereducated people, return migrants are in a worse employment position than observably similar non-migrants. The employment rates tend to deteriorate with migration duration and improve with time subsequent to return migration. This suggests that there could be an effect of lost contact with the home country labour market when being abroad, which may override any premium that accrues through human capital of foreign work experience or other practices gained abroad. Also return migrants with short stays abroad and long periods at home are in a poor relative position, however. Our findings therefore illustrate that the return migrants are highly selected on some latent personal characteristics that have detrimental effects for the job finding probability, and that this non-negligible group in the labour market should be given more policy attention.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Employment Rates of Return Migrants: The Finnish Case

Saarela¹,

Finnäs²

2009

Migration and Mobility in Europe

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“…While in Sweden, young immigrants with university degrees and high (adjusted mean) income have higher propensities to return (Nekby 2006). Finnish returnees from Sweden, as a particular group, are positively selected on education (Rooth and Saarela 2007).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

The productivity of return migrants: the case of China’s “Sea Turtles”

Sun

2013

IZA J Migration

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This paper explores the productivity differential between return migrants ("Sea Turtles") and non-migrants through a case study of China's venture capital (VC) industry. I find that even after correcting for selection bias, return venture capitalists are less productive than comparable non-migrants in targeting promising projects and/or providing value-added services. Given that the VC industry is a useful laboratory in which to look at the performance of return migrants and China's economic development, I discuss why the presumably better human capital accumulated overseas does not translate into productivity in the Chinese market, and how related policies could reverse this situation in the long run. JEL Codes: F22, G24, O15

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“…According to recent studies that have used the same data (Saarela and Finnäs 2006b;Rooth and Saarela 2007), there is no clear evidence in support of the view that variation in economic outcomes between the two groups would be an artifact of differences in selective migration. Swedish speakers have higher immigration rates and lower return migration rates (Finnäs 1986(Finnäs , 2003), so there is a level difference, but the selection on observable and unobservable characteristics appears to be fairly similar.…”

Section: Settings For Analysis and Theoretical Underpinningsmentioning

confidence: 87%

Native Language and Immigrant Labour Market Outcomes: An Alternative Approach to Measuring the Returns for Language Skills

Rooth¹,

Saarela

2007

Int. Migration & Integration

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In contrast with the conventional approach of studying the interrelation between immigrants' language skills and their chances of succeeding in the host country labour market, this article explores the relevance of having and not having a mother tongue in common with the native population for otherwise similar immigrants. This is accomplished by using linked register data from two countries, which makes it possible to separate people according to their native language. We find that immigrants who have their mother tongue in common with natives have substantially higher employment and income levels than immigrants who originate from the same country, but whose native language is linguistically different from the dominant language of the host country. The results support the view that language is a fundamental part of immigrants' human capital and thus promotes their labour market outcomes.Résumé Contrairement à l'approche traditionnelle à l'étude de l'interrelation entre les habiletés langagières des immigrants et leurs chances de réussir dans le marché du travail du pays qui les accueille, nous abordons la pertinence de partager ou de ne pas partager une langue maternelle avec les personnes nées dans le pays (la population native) en étudiant des immigrants qui sont semblables autrement. Nous nous appuyons sur les données de registres de deux pays, ce qui permet de distinguer les gens selon leur langue maternelle. Les résultats indiquent que le niveau d'emploi et de revenu des immigrants qui ont la même langue maternelle que la population native est grandement supérieur à celui des immigrants originaires du même pays mais dont la langue maternelle est très différente de la langue dominante du pays hôte. Ces conclusions appuient la théorie voulant que la langue constitue un élément fondamental du capital humain des immigrants et influence ainsi leur réussite au sein du marché du travail.

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Selection in migration and return migration: Evidence from micro data

Cited by 93 publications

References 4 publications

Employment Rates of Return Migrants: The Finnish Case

Employment Rates of Return Migrants: The Finnish Case

The productivity of return migrants: the case of China’s “Sea Turtles”

Native Language and Immigrant Labour Market Outcomes: An Alternative Approach to Measuring the Returns for Language Skills

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